I always find it fascinating that whenever it gets cold, politicians discover that there are homeless

people. I guess they think that in the summer these people may just be camping out, but it

doesn’t look good if people are found frozen to death in their locality. My favorite cold weather

joke (and obviously there are thousands of answers to “how cold is it?”) comes from listening to

WTOP. One of their reporters, talking about the overnight temperatures, said “if you are home-

less please go on our Web site www.wtop.com to look for open shelters.” Somehow I doubt there

are many homeless out on freezing evenings busy on their iPad or better yet have access to Wi-

Fi. Seriously? It is like saying; we need to give public service announcements but not really.

Yet hypothermia is no joking matter this winter. In many places in the U.S., the temperatures are

below that on Mars (the warmer parts of Mars, but still). Of course, the people on Mars were

smarter, they moved and probably not to Minnesota where in International Falls, the average

yearly temperature is a robust 38 degrees with an all-time low of -57. Or consider Green Bay,

Wisconsin, where the average low temperature in January is 9 degrees with an all-time low of -

37.

Hypothermia has its own movie entitled: Hypothermia (2010). The write up for the movie says

it all, “Ray Pelletier just wants to spend a pleasant and relaxing weekend ice fishing with his

family.” Who wouldn’t rush out to see that? By the

way, it is a horror movie and the horror is more than

just ice fishing which you would think would be

enough.

But hypothermia is a serious medical problem that can

cause changes on the ECG. The Osborn wave is a de-

flection with a dome or hump configuration occurring

at the R-ST junction (J point) on the ECG and is indica-

tive of hypothermia. Of course you need to know the

core body temperature since Osborn waves can also

occur with hypercalcemia , brain injury, subarachnoid

hemorrhage, cardiopulmonary arrest from over seda-

tion, vasospastic angina, or idiopathic ventricular fibril-

lation. John Osborn, in 1953 described this ECG ab-

normality in hypothermia (hence the name). However,

the first reference in the literature came in 1938 by

Tomashewski, but his report was in French and there-

fore ignored. Almost 80 years later and the French still have a chip on their shoulders and now

you know how it started.

Certain medications such as anti-psychotics, anti-depressants and sedatives may make it harder

for the body to regulate temperature, but by far alcohol is the worst. Alcohol may make your

body feel warm inside, but because it makes your blood vessels dilate, or expand, it results in

more rapid heat loss from the surface of the skin. Symptoms of hypothermia may be vague, but

mental confusion is universal and may lead to bizarre behaviors such as wearing cheese on one’s

head. It is a wonder that people aren’t dropping like flies at Green Bay Packers games.

February 2014 Volume 18, Issue 2

GW Medicine Notes

A Monthly Publication of the GW Department of Medicine

From the Chairman We are sad to announce that Dr. Da-

vid Simon, Division of General Inter-

nal Medicine, has decided to retire

from clinical practice. He holds the

rank as Clinical Professor of Medi-

cine.

Dr. Simon is a graduate of The

George Washington University School

of Medicine in 1967. He went on to

do his internship and residency at

the Hahnemann Hospital in Philadel-

phia but finished his final year of

medical residency at The George

Washington University Hospital. Da-

vid then went on to do a two-year

fellowship in pulmonary diseases at

the Veteran Administration Hospital

affiliated with The George Washing-

ton University in Washington, DC.

After a few years in the US Navy, Da-

vid returned to the Washington, DC

area where he combined a large pri-

vate practice with his educational

mission of teaching students and

residents.

(Continued on Page 3)

Alan G. Wasserman, M.D.

Dr. David Simon Retires

SAVE THE DATE

END-OF-THE-YEAR PARTY

FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014

RITZ CARLTON HOTEL

Department of Medicine February 2014 Grand Rounds

Medicine Team Contacts

Page 2 GW Medicine Notes

WHITE TEAM (202) 715-5669 YELLOW TEAM (202) 715-6041 GREEN TEAM (202) 715-6062 RED TEAM (202) 715-6039 BLUE TEAM (202) 715-6156 SILVER TEAM (202) 715-6040 PURPLE TEAM (202) 715-6042 GOLD TEAM (202) 715-6044

ADMITTING RESIDENT 741-0161 pager

Resident Lecture Series February 2014 Noon Conference

Feb 3 “Memory and Dimentia”- Dr. James Cooper

Feb 4 Journal Club

Feb 5 GME Core Curriculum lectures

Feb 6 Medicine Grand Rounds

Feb 7 Introduction to Podiatry– Dr. Michael Stempel

Feb 10 TBD

Feb 11 Clinicopathologic Conference–

Drs. Sheliza Lalani and Aundrea Tunstall

Feb 12 GME Core Curriculum lectures

Feb 13 Medicine Grand Rounds

Feb 14 Chairman’s Rounds

Feb 17 Holiday– No Conference

Feb 18 Clinicopathologic Conference-

Drs. Alexander Ross and Maram Alkhatib

Feb 19 “Back Pain”- Dr. Rodolfo Curiel

Feb 20 Medicine Grand Rounds

Feb 21 Introduction to Epilepsy– Dr. Uma Menon

Feb 24 “Atrial Fibriliation”- Dr. Marco Mercader

Feb 25 Mortality & Morbidity-

Drs. Suliman Alamro and John Duronville

Feb 26 Dr. Balbus– TBD

Feb 27 Medicine Grand Rounds

Feb 28 TBD

Feb 6 “Role of Stem Cells beyond a

Regenerative Tool and as a

Bio-Marker”

Sabyasachi Sen, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine

Division of Endocrinology

Department of Medicine

GW Medical Faculty Associates

Feb 13 “Movement Disorders”

Pritha Ghosh, MD

Assistant Professor of Neurology

Department of Neurology

GW Medical Faculty Associates

Feb 20 “Brain and Death”

Lakhmir S. Chawla, MD

Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care

Medicine

Department of Anesthesiology

GW Medical Faculty Associates

Feb 27 “Medical Malpractice”

Steven A. Farmer, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine

Division of Cardiology

Department of Medicine

GW Medical Faculty Associates

Cardiology Grand Rounds 5:00 PM, GWU Hospital, Conference Room 6-116

Feb 5 Mortality & Morbidity Conference

Feb 12 David Mendelowitz, Ph.D. Professor and Vice Chairman Department of Pharmacology and Physiology GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences Can Oxytocin be Beneficial for Treating Cardiovascular Diseases

Feb 19 Allen Solomon, MD Professor of Medicine Division of Cardiology Department of Medicine GW Medical Faculty Associates Left Atrial Appendage Closure Feb 26 TBA

The George Washington University Medical Center (GWUMC) is accredited by

the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to

sponsor continuing medical education for physicians. GWUMC designates this continuing medical education activity on an hour-for-hour basis in Category I of

the Physician’s Recognition Award of the American Medical Association.

GW Medicine Notes Page 3

Dr. Simon Retires (continued from page 1)

In 1974, he was appointed as Assistant Clinical Pro-

fessor of Medicine and in 1979 was promoted to As-

sociate Clinical Professor of Medicine. David ad-

vanced to Clinical Professor of Medicine at The

George Washington University School of Medicine in

1993, a title which he continues to hold.

David joined the Medical Faculty Associates in 2001;

during this time, he has served as an active mentor

and teacher to countless numbers of medical stu-

dents and residents. He served as a preceptor in the

outpatient clinic as well as an educator in multiple

courses including practice of medicine and problem-

based learning. He was also a preceptor in our third

-year medical student primary care clerkship pro-

gram as well as mentor of multiple CAP students in

their first and second years of medical school.

Beyond his teaching load for the medical school, Da-

vid has also been on almost every hospital adminis-

trative committee over the many years that he has

practiced at The George Washington University Hos-

pital. He chaired the critical care committee, has

been on the peer review committee and the depart-

ment’s appointments, promotions and tenure com-

mittee, just to name a few. He is a role model for

students and house staff of an academic primary

care doctor and he will be sorely missed. Dr. Simon

has given us the used excuse of retiring to spend

more time with his family.

Intern Interview Season Comes to an

End

That’s it for another year. Thanks to everyone who

helped with the interview process. Now we will be meet-

ing to get together our Match list while all the students

do the same. Then the waiting starts until March 14th

(first time on a Friday) when those envelopes get opened

and everyone’s life changes. Special thanks to Jacqueline

Cole Miles and Tamara Lyons for all the hard work they

did in making this interview season go so smoothly.

On January 27th,

the GW Hospital Certificate of Need

(CON) to perform Kidney and Pancreas Transplants was

approved by an administrative law judge following the

initial denial by a District agency. Until now, there was

only one place in the District to pursue a transplant. Re-

search indicates that the need for transplant surgery is

growing based on the large number of dialysis patients in

the region. All aspects of the kidney and pancreas dona-

tion and transplant process will be performed at GW Hos-

pital and MFA, from initial evaluations to surgical proce-

dures and the necessary after-care.

We are thrilled to be able to start a program that has been

championed by Dr. Dominic Raj, our director of the Divi-

sion of Nephrology. Much thanks goes out to the hospi-

tal administrators including Barry Wolfman and Kim Russo

who have worked continuously since the summer to get

this done. The detailed planning will now begin to oper-

ationalize the program as soon as possible. More infor-

mation will be available as the process develops.

Chairman’s Rounds GWU Hospital Auditorium, 12:00 Noon

All Faculty Invited to Attend Feb 14 Dr. Tudi Al Sabban Dr. Natasha Ang

GW University Hospital Receives CON to start

Renal Transplant Program

The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates

Department of Medicine, Suite 8-416

2150 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20037

GW Medicine Notes Page 4

See you next month! The Editor

Congratulations….to Dr. Stuart Kassan, GW Board of Trustees member and alumnus, for named a ‘Distinguished Clinical Professor of Medicine’ by the University of Colora-do School of Medicine. This is the highest honor for clinical faculty at CU. More Congratulations….to Drs. Chad Henson, PGY3, Ab-dulhameed (Tudi) Al-Sabban, PGY3, and Ashley Free-man, PGY3, for representing GWU and the entire ACP DC Chapter at this year’s ’Medical Jeopardy’ competition at the annual ACP meeting in Orlando in April. Way to go! Kudos… to Dr. Nathan Punwani, PGY1, on his Letter to the Editor, “Bashing a health insurer ‘bailout’ for political expe-dience,” which in the January 7issue of The Washington Post. More Kudos… to Dr. Marie Borum, Gastroenterology, Dr. Jessica Davis, PGY2, and Dr. Samir Vermani, PGY3, on having their abstract, “Cervical Dysplasia in Women with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Impact of Race, Type of IBD and Medication Regimen,” accepted for inclusion in the Scientific Poster Session for Women’s Health Congress 2014. Even more Kudos… to Dr. Jehan El-Bayoumi, General In-ternal Medicine, and Cristina Burgos, who received a let-ter from a patient thanking them for helping to coordinate care for her and her family.

Rheumatology Academic Conference Schedule February 2014

ACC Building 6B-411B (8:00 am - 9:00 am) Questions? Call (202) 741-2488

Feb 6 Journal Club Dr. Heidi Hanna Feb 6 Didactic Sessions 1:00 - 3:30 p.m., GW Hospital, 6th floor Feb 13 Simple Concepts for Studying Diseases Dr. S. Pillemer Feb 13 Didactic Sessions 1:00 - 3:30 p.m., GW Hospital, 6th floor Feb 20 Intra-City Rheumatology Grand Rounds NOTE LOCATION: Navy Hospital NOTE TIME: 7:30 AM Feb 20 Didactic Sessions 1:00 - 3:30 p.m., GW Hospital, 6th floor Feb 27 Radiology Conference Dr. Kathleen Brindle, Associate Professor of Radiology Chief, Musculoskeletal Radiology Feb 27 Didactic Sessions 1:00 - 3:30 p.m., GW Hospital, 6th floor

Kudos & Congratulations